Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Coal plants 'must monitor air quality'

ILOILO CITY — The Department of
Environment and Natural Re­sources (DENR) is calling on two coal­ fired power
plants in Panay Island to be transparent in their air quality monitoring. To
achieve that, DENR Regional Director for Western Visayas Jim Sam­ pula said the
Panay Energy Develop­ment Corp. (PEDC) in Iloilo City and Panay Concepcion
Power Corp. (PCPC) in northern Iloilo province must install real­ time air
monitoring devices. The devices must be connected to the Environmental
Management Bu­reau (EMB) regional office for direct access to air quality
index. Sampulna said President Duterte wants coal ­fired plants to utilize
newer technologies to ensure that they fully comply with the Clean Air Act.
DENR is strictly monitoring the two plants in the light of DENR Sec­retary Gina
Lopez's campaign against mining firms that violate environmen­tal laws. DENR
also urged the two plants to conduct continuous health surveys to ensure that
their operation does not harm surrounding communities. "The needs of the
people must be taken into consideration. We need to balance profit with
environmental pro­tection and sustainable development," Sampulna said.
PEDC and PCPC supply electric­ity to Panay, Negros, Cebu, and Leyte islands.
PEDC is a subsidiary of Global Busi­ness Power Corp. (GBP), and PCPC is a
subsidiary of A Brown Co. Inc. and Jin